BioTechnology Institute

EXCHANGE PROGRAM

Stepping stones BTI researchers collaborate with scholars and scientists from around the world. Formal exchange programs between institutions enhance communications between researchers. If these programs are international they also provide an opportunity for cultural as well as technological learning experiences.

In 1996 BTI established a formal exchange with Nara institute of Science and Technology (NAIST) located in western Japan. The BTI-NAIST program has provided the occasion for over 100 students and faculty to experience each other's cultures.

Student visits

NAIST

Each year, 3 to 4 students from BTI and Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST), in western Japan, participate in the exchange visit. The students are assigned to a specific laboratory, based on their research interests, with the intent of learning new skills and techniques. Students from the host laboratory also become cultural mentors for the visitors. Lasting professional and personal bonds are forged in the process.

HOCHSCHULE WADENSWILL

In 2001, BTI welcomed the first students from Hochschule, Wadenswill, Switzerland which specializes in applied biotechnology. Students from Wadenswill typically spent 4-6 months working with BTI graduate students in a BTI faculty laboratory. Upon return to Wadenswill the student wrote a diploma thesis based on their learning experience at BTI. The BTI laboratory benefited from the focused efforts of students who came well trained in the techniques of applied biotechnology.

Symposia

The first joint symposium, entitled Novel Plants and Microbes of Environmental Biotechnology was held in Nara in 2000. Another joint workshop, to explore possibilities for research collaboration, was held in Minneapolis in 2003.

NAIST has a significant effort in Bioinformatics encompassing plant and microbial genomics. To create a dialogue between the two institutions a Bioinformatics workshop was convened in Minneapolis in 2004. Participants from NAIST included 6 faculty and 18 students. The workshop provided an opportunity for our students to present their work in a poster session.

This workshop became the basis for the creation of a new course entitled Systems Analysis of Biological Processes, which has become a required course for all NIH training grant graduate students.